Job 12:19 kjv
He leadeth princes away spoiled, and overthroweth the mighty.
Job 12:19 nkjv
He leads princes away plundered, And overthrows the mighty.
Job 12:19 niv
He leads priests away stripped and overthrows officials long established.
Job 12:19 esv
He leads priests away stripped and overthrows the mighty.
Job 12:19 nlt
He leads priests away, stripped of status;
he overthrows those with long years in power.
Job 12 19 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| Deut 8:18 | "...but remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth..." | God is the source of all power. |
| 1 Sam 2:7-8 | "The LORD makes poor and makes rich; He brings low and lifts up..." | God brings low and lifts up. |
| Job 9:4 | "He is wise in heart and mighty in strength..." | God's power and wisdom are supreme. |
| Ps 33:10 | "The LORD brings the counsel of the nations to nothing; He frustrates the plans of the peoples." | God frustrates human plans/counsel. |
| Ps 75:6-7 | "...exaltation comes neither from the east nor from the west... But God is the Judge: He brings one down, He exalts another." | God alone grants/removes authority. |
| Prov 8:15 | "By me kings reign, and rulers decree what is just." | Kings rule by God's allowance. |
| Isa 2:11-12 | "The haughty looks of man shall be brought low... For the day of the LORD of hosts shall be against all that is proud..." | God humbles the proud and lofty. |
| Isa 19:3 | "...I will confuse their counsels..." | God confuses leaders' plans. |
| Isa 40:23 | "He reduces rulers to nothing, He makes the judges of the earth useless." | God reduces rulers and judges to nothing. |
| Isa 44:25 | "...who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish;" | God makes human wisdom foolish. |
| Jer 13:18 | "Say to the king and the queen mother: Take a humble seat, for your beautiful crown has come down..." | Royalty brought to humiliation. |
| Dan 2:21 | "He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings..." | God actively controls rise and fall of rulers. |
| Dan 4:17 | "...the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone He wishes..." | God's absolute sovereignty over kingdoms. |
| Dan 5:21 | "...the Most High God is sovereign over the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom He pleases." | God's specific placement of rulers. |
| Amos 3:6 | "...Does disaster come to a city unless the LORD has done it?" | God is active in calamities/overturns. |
| Matt 23:12 | "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted." | Principle of divine humbling/exalting. |
| Lk 1:52 | "He has brought down the mighty from their thrones and exalted those of humble estate." | Mary's Magnificat; God dethrones the mighty. |
| Rom 13:1 | "For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God." | All authority originates with God. |
| 1 Cor 1:27-28 | "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise... things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are..." | God nullifies the powerful/wise with the weak. |
| Jas 4:10 | "Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will exalt you." | Humility precedes divine exaltation. |
| 1 Pet 5:6 | "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you." | Humbling under God's hand brings exaltation. |
| Rev 6:15 | "Then the kings of the earth... hid themselves in the caves..." | Final humbling of earth's powerful before God. |
Job 12 verses
Job 12 19 Meaning
Job 12:19 asserts God's supreme and often enigmatic power over all human authority and strength. It declares that God can strip away the status, influence, and even the basic dignity of those in high positions—whether spiritual leaders (priests) or secular rulers (princes, judges)—and effectively humble, remove, or render ineffective those perceived as strong and unshakeable in society. This highlights God's absolute sovereignty and the precariousness of all human power before Him.
Job 12 19 Context
Job 12:19 is part of Job's second discourse (chapters 12-14), where he is responding to Zophar's previous speech. In this section, Job sarcastically acknowledges his friends' supposed wisdom, then launches into a profound assertion of God's unmatched and mysterious power. He lists numerous examples of God's sovereignty over nature (e.g., controlling water, famines) and human society. Job contends that God's power is absolute and operates beyond human comprehension of justice or merit. He demonstrates that God has the unquestionable ability to both establish and dismantle, to raise up and cast down, often in ways that defy human expectations or logic. This verse specifically showcases God's power over human governance and strength, reinforcing Job's core argument that divine wisdom and justice are unfathomable to mortals, challenging his friends' simplistic interpretations of suffering as direct retribution for sin.
Job 12 19 Word analysis
He leads / He strips (מֵשִׁיל - mêšîl): This is a causative verb from a root meaning "to loosen, make to fail, spoil, plunder." It indicates an active, decisive, and forceful action by a powerful agent. It implies that the stripping or removal is not accidental but intentionally caused by God, demonstrating His active intervention in human affairs.
princes / priests (כֹּהֲנִים - kōhănîm): This Hebrew term can mean both "priests" (those in a sacred office, officiating worship) and "chief officials" or "princes" (high-ranking secular leaders). This duality highlights that God's sovereignty extends to all forms of high authority—both religious and governmental—emphasizing that no position of human power or influence is exempt from His divine oversight and potential overthrow.
away stripped / plundered (שׁוֹלָל - šōlāl): An adjective meaning "stripped," "bare," "destitute," or "plundered." It vividly depicts the state of those who have been deprived of their power, wealth, status, and perhaps even dignity. It's not just a removal from office, but a humbling reduction to vulnerability and ignominy.
and (וְאֶת - wəʾet): A conjunction linking the two clauses, showing that the actions described are concurrent or complementary aspects of God's comprehensive power.
mighty / strong ones / enduring ones (אֵיתָנִים - ʾêṯānîm): This noun refers to those who are seen as firm, stable, lasting, perennial, or powerful. It encompasses the established, seemingly unshakeable figures in society, often leaders or pillars of the community who derive their authority from strength, reputation, or long-standing position.
He makes fools / He overthrows / He removes (יַחֲלִיף - yachaliph): The verb yachaliph means "to change, exchange, pass on, substitute, remove, or overthrow." In this context, it speaks of God's power to alter the established order, to decisively replace, depose, or subvert the perceived strength of the mighty. The interpretation "makes fools" in some translations stems from the idea that by removing them or overturning their plans, God renders their previous wisdom and strength meaningless, thus exposing them as foolish in their former reliance on their own power.
He leads princes away stripped: This phrase highlights God's active role in dispossessing the powerful. It shows that leaders, no matter how influential, are subject to divine will and can be divested of their authority, privilege, and even dignity. This suggests a direct intervention rather than passive observation.
and makes judges fools / and overthrows the mighty: This part reinforces God's sovereignty over human wisdom and strength. It emphasizes that those deemed strong, stable, or wise within human systems can be rendered ineffective, vulnerable, or their wisdom subverted by God's action, proving that their perceived permanence or sagacity is transient.
Job 12 19 Bonus section
- The phrasing uses a stark contrast: from immense power ("princes," "mighty") to utter destitution and foolishness ("stripped," "fools"). This hyperbolic language emphasizes the dramatic reversal of fortunes brought about by God.
- Job uses this assertion of God's uncontestable power as a foundation to challenge the idea that prosperity always signifies righteousness or that suffering always indicates sin. He is implying that God's actions are often inscrutable to humanity.
- This verse contributes to the Old Testament theme that all nations and rulers are ultimately under the suzerainty of the one true God, a concept later expanded upon in prophetic books and Daniel.
Job 12 19 Commentary
Job 12:19 is a forceful affirmation of God's absolute sovereignty and His capacity to intervene in human affairs in ways that confound human understanding. It portrays a God who is not confined by human notions of hierarchy or justice, capable of summarily stripping away the power and dignity of the most esteemed and entrenched figures in society, whether priests embodying religious authority or princes/judges representing secular power. The vivid image of these mighty individuals being "stripped" emphasizes a complete loss, not just of office, but of honor and standing, bringing them to a state of destitution and foolishness from their lofty positions. This serves as a reminder that all human power is delegated and temporary, utterly dependent on the will of the Creator. For Job, this truth explains how divine wisdom can operate in ways that seem arbitrary or unjust to humans, such as the suffering of the righteous or the prosperity of the wicked, challenging the friends' simplistic retributive theology by asserting that God’s ways are far above human logic and assessment.